Bittersweet (H)

First novelist Li transforms the eventful life of her Chinese grandmother Li Xiuwen--who was born in 1889 and became the wife of Li Zongren, a major political figure in modern China--into an appealing story. Interpolating fresh historical research, Li describes the century of vital change that her protagonist, called Bittersweet, witnessed: an era that stretched from the end of the empire to the tragedy of the Tiananmen Square massacre. At age 19, farm girl Bittersweet marries Delin, a nationalist commander who will become China's first elected vice president and acting president for his wily ``sworn brother'' Chiang Kai-shek. Schooled in Taoist acceptance by a monk whose pure love sustains her throughout many troubles, Bittersweet endures the anguish of being permanently displaced in her husband's affection by his westernized second wife. Against a setting of war and political turmoil, Li spins a fascinating chronicle of female subservience, in which wedding and birth customs, infanticide and the cruel rivalries between wifely ``battalions'' all come vividly alive. Expository digressions sometimes impede the narrative flow, as does the hasty wrap-up, which details Bittersweet's sojourn in America and her return to China, but seasoned journalist Li largely succeeds in recasting factual material into an engrossing novel. (Oct.)